Motor imagery and action-observation in neurorehabilitation: A study protocol in Parkinson's disease patients

Introduction

Action Observation Treatment (AOT) and Motor Imagery (MI) represent very promising cognitive strategies in neuro-rehabilitation. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of the two cognitive strategies, taken alone or combined, in Parkinson's disease patients.

Material and methods

This study is designed as a prospective randomized controlled trial, with four arms. We estimated a sample size of 64 patients (16 in each treatment group) to be able to detect an effect size of F = 0.4 with a statistical significance of 0.05. Primary outcomes will be functional gains in the FIM and UPDRS scales. Secondary outcome measure will be functional gain as revealed by kinematic parameters measured at Gait Analysis.

Discussion

The results of this trial will provide insights into the use of AOT and MI, taken alone or combined, in the rehabilitation of Parkinson's disease patients.

Ethics and dissemination

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Don Gnocchi Foundation. The study will be conducted in accordance with the 1996 World Medical Association guidelines and according to good clinical practice. The study has been registered on clinicaltrial.gov under the following code: AOTPRFDG. Dissemination will include both submission of the study to peer-reviewed journals and discussion of the study protocol at conferences.

The potential role of local pharmacies to assess asthma control: an Italian cross-sectional study

Background

Asthma control and monitoring still represents a challenge worldwide. Although the international guidelines suggest the interplay between secondary and primary care services as an effective strategy to control the disease, community pharmacies’ are seldom involved in asthma control assessment.

The present cross-sectional study aimed at providing a picture of the relationship between asthma severity and control in community pharmacies within the health district of the city of Verona (Veneto Region, North-Eastern Italy).

Methods

A call for participation was launched through the Pharmacists’ Association of Verona. Patients referring to the participating pharmacies with an anti-asthmatic drug medical prescription and an asthma exemption code were asked to complete the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and a brief questionnaire collecting information on their age, sex, smoking status, aerobic physical exercise and usual asthma therapy, which also defined asthma severity. A multinomial logistic regression model was fitted to investigate the risk of uncontrolled as well as poorly controlled vs. controlled asthma (base). Results were expressed as relative risk ratios (RRR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI).

Results

Fifty-seven community pharmacies accepted to participate and 584 asthmatic patients (54% females; mean-age: 51 ± 19 years) were consecutively recruited from 1st January to 30th June 2018 (6 months). Based upon ACT score 50.5% patients had a controlled asthma, 22.3% a poorly controlled and 27.2% uncontrolled. A variable proportion of patients with uncontrolled asthma were observed for every level of severity, although more frequently with mild persistent form of asthma. Most patients (92%) self-reported regular compliance with therapy. At multinomial regression analysis, patients under regular asthma treatment course (RRR = 0.33; 95%CI: 0.15; 0.77) were less likely to have an ACT< 16 compared to those not taking medications regularly.

Conclusions

Overall, our findings highlighted an unsatisfactory asthma control in the general population, independently of the severity level of the disease. Community pharmacies could be a useful frontline interface between patients and the health care services, supporting an effective asthma management plan, from disease assessment and monitoring treatment compliance to referral of patients to specialist medical consultancies.

Evaluation of asthma control in the pharmacy: an Italian cross-sectional study

Summary

Background. In Western countries a large proportion of asthmatic patients remain uncontrolled, despite the availability of effective drugs. An involvement of pharmacies / pharmacists in asthma management has been suggested in guidelines, since this could provide a relevant support. Objective. The present cross-sectional study aimed at assessing the level of asthma control, by using ACT questionnaire, in the community pharmacies in the County of Verona, North East of Italy. Methods. A call for participation was sent by Verona Pharmacists' Association to all the pharmacies located in the Verona municipality. Patients with a medical prescription and an asthma exemption code were recruited in pharmacies. They were asked to fill the ACT questionnaire and to answer some additional questions on asthma treatment, smoke habits and comorbidities. Results. Thirty-seven community pharmacies recruited 239 patients. According to the ACT score, more than 50% of patients had a controlled asthma but 20% of them were totally uncontrolled and 12% were using oral steroid. Only 2.9% of patients had received an asthma action plan. Asthma was intermittent in 17.6% of patients, mild persistent in 13.8%, moderate persistent in 63.1% and severe in 5.4%. Discordance was observed between the self-perceived asthma control and objective parameters, when available. Of note, in the severe asthma group, most patients had an ACT > 20. Conclusion. This is the first Italian pharmacy-based study on asthma control. A better asthma control was recorded in this study in comparison with other trials, but about 50% of patients were insufficiently controlled. The community pharmacies can play a relevant role in the preliminary assessment of asthma control by using easy and not time consuming tools, such as ACT.

Does gait analysis change clinical decision-making in poststroke patients? Results from a pragmatic prospective observational study

BACKGROUND

Gait analysis (GA) was demonstrated to change presurgical planning and improve gait outcomes in children with Cerebral Palsy. GA is often used also to assess walking capability of poststroke subjects, although its influence in the clinical management of these patients has not yet been established.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the impact of GA on clinical decision-making in adult chronic poststroke patients.

DESIGN

Pragmatic prospective observational study.

SETTING

Rehabilitation hospital, both outpatients and inpatients.

POPULATION

Forty-nine patients (age: 53.3±14.5 years) who had had a cerebrovascular accident 35.2±26.4 months before and were referred to the gait analysis service.

METHODS

Recommendations of therapeutic treatments before and after the analysis of GA data were compared, together with the confidence level of recommendations on a 10-point scale. Frequency of changes of post-GA vs pre-GA recommendations were computed for each recommendation type: surgery, botulinum toxin (BT), orthotic management and physiotherapy.

RESULTS

Based on the analysis of GA data, 71% of poststroke subjects had their treatment planning changed in some components. Indeed, 73% of patients with indications for surgery had their surgical planning changed; 81%, 37% and 32% had, respectively, their BT, orthotic and physiotherapy planning changed. Confidence level of recommendations increased significantly after GA, in both the whole group of patients (from 6.7±1.4 to 8.7±0.6, P<0.01) and the subgroup whose recommendations had not changed (7.0±1.5 vs. 8.8±0.4, P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

GA significantly influences the therapeutic planning and reinforces decision-making for chronic poststroke patients. Further work should be done to better translate GA results into indications for specific physiotherapy.

CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT

The use of GA as a tool to better define the rehabilitation planning in post-stroke patients should be fostered, particularly when surgery or botulinum toxin are considered and/or the prescription of orthoses is hypothesised.

Gait analysis in patients undergoing ACL reconstruction according to Kenneth Jones' technique

The anterior cruciate ligament is essential for knee stability, and its injury, both acute and in the case of chronic knee instability, promotes meniscal degenerative alterations, as well as the onset and progression of gonarthrosis. In this retrospective study, young adults engaged in nonprofessional sportive activities undergoing ACL reconstruction by the Kenneth-Jones technique were assessed clinically and with gait analysis, to detect any deficits persisting even after rehabilitation at a follow- up of approximately 6 months. Eight patients who had undergone elective ligament reconstruction by Kenneth-Jones were assessed between the 5th and 7th month postsurgery with clinical-anamnestic investigation, including the Hughston Clinic subjective knee questionnaire and by gait analysis with the EL.I.Te. system. Gait analysis showed a reduction of ACL protection mechanisms during initial stance; furthermore, the operated limb globally exhibited greater difficulty in muscle recruitment. Residual deficits in muscle recruitment, exposing the reconstructed ligament to possible injuries, persist after a rehabilitation program and after resuming ofpre-surgery activities, thus adjustment of the rehabilitative program on the basis of these findings is recommended.

Blount's disease

Out of a total of 40 patients affected with Blount's disease treated at the Pediatric Orthopaedic Division of the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute between 1965 and 1996, 29 were affected with the infantile type, and 11 with the adolescent type. In the group affected with infantile Blount's disease, the mean age was 5.5 years, 11 were bilateral, for a total of 40 limbs affected, with a mean TMD angle of 24 degrees. All of the patients were treated by valgus osteotomy obtaining a percentage of poor results (insufficient correction or recurrence) equal to 25% according to Schoenecker's criteria. Mean follow-up was 3.6 years. In the group affected with adolescent Blount's disease, mean age was 12.6 years, the affection was always monolateral, the mean TMD angle was 15 degrees. All of the patients except 1 were treated by valgus osteotomy with elevation, and the results were constantly favorable. Mean follow-up was 2 years. The authors believe that the type of osteotomy used must be modulated based on the anatomopathologic findings of compromise in the proximal tibial metaepiphysis.

Post-traumatic reflex sympathetic dystrophy in the ankle and foot: a study of 32 cases

The etiopathogenesis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy is still undefined, and diagnosis and treatment are difficult. It is the purpose of this study to propose precise diagnostic and therapeutic criteria for post-traumatic reflex sympathetic dystrophy of the ankle and foot. Diagnosis is pre-eminently clinical. Clinical progression of the disease occurs in three stages: acute, dystrophic, chronic. Radiographic examination cannot be used to classify the stage of the syndrome. Bone scan with Tc 99M methylendiphosphonate aids diagnosis, and helps establish the prognosis of the disease. Clinical symptoms and instrumental tests (x-ray, bone scan, CT scan, MRI) are discussed in relation to differential diagnosis with other pathologies of the ankle and foot. Furthermore, the effective use of drugs, physiokinesitherapy, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy is discussed. The authors present a study of 32 patients, paying close attention to early clinical signs of the disease. X-ray examination and bone scan were routinely carried out in established diagnostic protocols.

Isolation in Italy of a verotoxin-producing strain of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from a child with hemolytic-uraemic syndrome

Verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 was isolated for the first time in Italy from a child with hemolytic-uremic syndrome and his asymptomatic sister. Both parents remained asymptomatic, and neither had evidence of this infection. The source of the infection was not identified, but the children had eaten ground beef during the 15 days prior to the onset of symptoms.

Double-blind placebo-controlled trial of baclofen, alone and in combination, in patients undergoing voluntary abortion

This study evaluated the analgesic efficacy of baclofen in relation to specific pain stimuli in 83 women (27 nulliparas and 56 multiparas) undergoing voluntary abortion (clamping of the cervix and dilatation and curettage). The patient population was divided into five treatment groups as follows: group 1, placebo; group 2, baclofen, 0.3 mg/kg, administered intravenously (IV); group 3, baclofen, 0.6 mg/kg IV; group 4, baclofen, 0.3 mg/kg IV, and fentanyl, 1.5 mg IV; and group 5, baclofen, 0.3 mg/kg IV, and diazepam, 5 mg given orally and 5 mg IV. In each case the surgical intervention was started using analgesia only. When the first sensation of pain was recorded, a paracervical anesthetic block was performed to provide pain relief for completion of the operation. The results showed that baclofen had significantly better analgesic properties than did placebo, with no important side effects. Its analgesic action seemed to be dose-dependent, since better results were obtained with the higher dose. The analgesic effect was slightly potentiated when baclofen was combined with fentanyl, but not when it was combined with diazepam. Factors independent of the pain stimuli and drugs used--the most important being parity--influenced the results.

[Circulatory disorders and acupuncture]

The present study was designed to examine whether acupuncture is useful in the treatment of some disorders of the vascular system as the thromboangiitis obliterans of the extremities, the Raynaud's disease and in the therapy of ulcers by venous stasis. From the data presented it appears that acupuncture is effective in releasing the arterial spasm and especially in increasing the circulation in collateral vessels. In order to prove the efficiency of acupuncture in the above disorders, the response to acupuncture was compared with that obtained by a pharmacological treatment with lumbar paravertebral block.